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Craig Breslow explains why Red Sox elevated 26-year-old coach from rookie ball to big league staff
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- Craig Breslow explains why Red Sox elevated 26-year-old coach from rookie ball to big league staff
TORONTO — Forty-eight hours ago, Jack Simonetty was a hitting coach for the Red Sox ' rookie ball team in the Florida Complex League.
Now the 26-year-old is a member of the Red Sox major league coaching staff as an interim assistant hitting coach.
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The Red Sox added to their coaching staff Monday — two days after firing manager Alex Cora and five of his coaches .
Boston elevated Simonetty and Pablo Cabrera, who are both under 30 years old. Cabrera, previously the organization's infield/outfield defensive coordinator, will be the interim first base coach and outfield coordinator.
Simonetty jumped five minor league levels. He's the youngest of a very young hitting group as he joins 32-year-old John Soteropulos and 35-year-old Collin Hetzler.
Soteropulos was the only hitting coach from Cora's staff who chief baseball officer Craig Breslow retained. The Sox fired both hitting coach Pete Fatse and assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson.
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Soteropulos will serve as the lead hitting coach after working as an assistant under Fatse. Hetzler was promoted from Worcester alongside interim manager Chad Tracy on Saturday evening.
The Red Sox will also add longtime minor league coach Nelson Paulino, 53, to the hitting group by the end of the week. He has been Low-A Salem's hitting coach this year.
Simonetty was one of 13 hitting coaches who the Red Sox had across their six minor league affiliate teams. What stood out about him that led to his promotion?
"I think what we're looking for just fits kind of his skill set and experiences given he's worked in the video space, running technology, collecting information," Breslow said. "Just making sure that our players feel like they're as prepared as possible to go out and compete every night."
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Simonetty will help Red Sox hitters in the batting cage where data is collected.
Simonetty served as Low-A Salem's assistant hitting coach last year. In 2024, he held the title of player development associate. In 2023, he was the minor league affiliate video and technology associate in Worcester where he worked alongside Tracy, then Worcester's manager.
He played baseball at Springfield College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in sports management and sports analytics, as well as a master of business administration, according to his LinkedIn page. He also has a certificate as a biomechanics specialist from the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association.
"We're excited. He's got a great way about him," Breslow said. "He's going to build relationships, but he's also just a tireless worker. And sometimes a lot of aspects of these roles can be kind of thankless. And we know that he's just going to put his head down and just do everything possible to help the guys."
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Cabrera, meanwhile, initially joined the organization in 2023 as a coach for Double-A Portland. Before joining the organization, he was a graduate assistant coach for the University of Charleston baseball team, serving as a defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator.
"In a short amount of time, he's really impressed many of us in the organization with kind of the technical and tactical skills and also ability to build relationships," Breslow said about Cabrera. "The fact that he's bilingual is certainly helpful. ... We're really excited about bringing him on board."
The Red Sox also added a new bullpen catcher in Drew Ehrhard, a 27-year-old who has been playing for Double-A Portland. Catching coach and bullpen catcher Parker Guinn moved to a dugout coaching position to help out with PitchCom and other tasks.
"The fact that we had extra hands, everything felt like a little slower," Tracy said. "Nobody felt like they were doing more than they had to or scrambling. Had people covering the phone, the PitchComs were taken care of. So from that standpoint, everything ran smoothly."
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